The Main Street Electrical Parade was one of my favorite things we saw at Disneyland. More than anything else at the park, it feels like it belongs in a different era. I feel very lucky that it just happened to have returned for the summer we visited the park. This post will be about the parade as well as Main Street after dark. So let's start out with a boatload of train station pictures!
Iconic. (What else is there to say?!)
The full-moon shots are probably cliche at this point, but I still like them.
I forgot to take a nighttime trip on the Railroad, but I rode pretty much everything else at night!
50 years strong, and not a single burnt-out light bulb in sight! I appreciate the effort to add this "50 years" design to the opening float.
Although there are a lot of people lined up along the curb, there were only a couple of other people watching from the train station with me. It was really one of the best moments of the entire trip. 
Hearing the iconic fanfare on the Main Street that gives the parade its name, I did get chills.
Hearing the iconic fanfare on the Main Street that gives the parade its name, I did get chills.
Who doesn't love the Alice in Wonderland segment, with its whimsical spinning bugs?
Although all the lights go out on Main Street for the parade, the train station stays lit.
I lined this photo up with the castle for a unique shot down Main Street.
Despite these floats being nowhere near today's technology, I still love teh MSEP so much, if even just for the music!
"Heigh-ho!"
But the important part, the giant smiling mouth, still lives on.
Elliott happily trundles towards Sleeping Beauty Castle once again, just as he has done thousands of times in the past.
Although I am not a fan of this new finale compared to the old one that was stuck eternally in the Bicentennial, hopefully it shows Disney's long-term commitment to the Electrical Parade.
Looking back down Main Street from the Hub, I try to plan how to cross the parade route.
We'll finish up our look at Disneyland with some nighttime shots of Main Street.
"Twinkle lights" make the Hub a special place after twilight.
By turning the shutter speed down, I captured a more moody Main Street than its flashy reality.
And that concludes our look at Disneyland! I will have a post on Magic Mountain and California Adventure eventually, but that's all I have planned for my Disneyland trip reports. Coming soon, I may also have a Disneyland miscellany post where I share the best pictures I didn't include. Thanks for reading!
15 comments:
I worked in tomorrowland in the early 90s. Parade duty was the best, that electrical music in the summer nights is indelible. What a sound. I would be stationed up by the matterhorn. We'd get these wood slats with rope corded around them and allow people to cross during gaps in the parade. You seem to appreciate it the same way I did.
In picture #1, I think that's the handle of the Big Dipper behind the clock tower. The rest of the dipper would be behind the tower. Or maybe it's Tinkerbell and a couple of her fairy friends.
The Station is looking very warm and inviting!
In the first MSEP picture, I know that Mickey is on top of the big drum, but what is Minnie doing down below? Just waving to the crowd? It looks like she's squirting anti-bacterial lotion on her hands... danged COVID!
It must be quite a chore for the parade overseers to make sure there aren't any burnt out bulbs and that all the light strings are lit; and if they aren't lit, to figure out why and get them lit.
I was already familiar with the MSEP music before they used it in the parade. I still have the vinyl LP that the song (Baroque Hoedown) appeared in along with a bunch of other Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley electronic songs. I was 'into' electronic music from an early age... probably the late 1950s when I heard Bernard Herrmann's eerie Theremin music when I saw The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951 version) for the first time.
Looks like there is a scene from Frozen (or Frozen 2, I guess) in the Emporium window.
Cool shot of the Jungle Cruise boats. I wonder if any of the original striped-canopy boats still exist somewhere?
You should've taken two pictures of the twinkle lights, moments apart, and posted them as an animated GIF... just sayin'. ;-)
The last photo, showing the MS Cinema is my favorite of your nighttime pics. It really evokes the feel of a 1920s theater marquee.
Thanks so much for these Disneyland trip reports, Andrew. And I look forward to seeing, and reading, your other trip reports.
These are some beautiful nighttime shots, Andrew!
I'm just curious, were there any cast members trying to discourage pictures from being taken in that backstage corridor? I remember many years ago.....1996, to be exact....the year that Disney told us that the Main Street Electrical Parade was going away FOREVER, and that it would never EVER return to Disneyland again. Then they encouraged everyone to buy the official "Farewell" merchandise, and an authentic light bulb that was supposedly used in the parade.....but I digress.....anyway, I remember the park being so incredibly crowded for that "Farewell Season" of the MSEP, that they opened those backstage corridors. It might have been the very first time they had done that....at least, on a regular basis. My memory is being on the backstage road behind Storybook Land, being led away from the parade route in front of IASW, and being told my cast members that I couldn't take photos of the canal boats in storage, or the spare Casey Jr. Circus train, sitting on it's backstage spur track. Don't worry, I took the photos anyway. I told them if they didn't want us taking photos, then they shouldn't be letting us go back there. I was much bolder back then! I'm just wondering if 26 years later, they are still trying to stop guests from taking photos of ride vehicles "backstage."
They never had live horses pulling Cinderella's coach in the MSEP. However, they did have live horses pulling her pumpkin coach in many of the park's Christmas parades, and also her glass/crystal coach in DL's 25th Anniversary Family Reunion parade. What they did have in the MSEP, once upon a time, was four of Cinderella's mice, dressed in period costumes (with lights) similar to the costume worn by the coach driver. They would walk in front of the coach, as if they were "pulling" it. If I can find an image or footage of that, I will send it your way.
I love the MSEP so much. It is right up there among my favorite Disneyland parades. But it is sad to see how they have whittled away at it, little by little over the years. I miss the very large Dumbo Circus unit of the parade, with all of the animals, and clowns, and the large calliope. I also miss the Seven Dwarfs diamond mine float. And most of all, I miss the Blue Fairly being out in front and leading the parade, just as she had for many years. I wonder if something happened to that float? I just can't imagine them making the decision to eliminate her from the parade, unless something physically happened to the float, and they do not want to spend the money to replace it.
Thank you for your DL trip reports, Andrew. I have thoroughly enjoyed ALL of them. I would love to see whatever miscellaneous DL photos you decide to include in a future post. And I'm also looking forward to your Magic Mountain and DCA reports!
Chris, I agree that the Electrical Parade music is the best part! It sounds like you had a good position to enjoy the parade while you were working. Thanks for the comment!
JB, I think you’re right in saying the Big Dipper is behind the train station. Cool! Yep, Mickey is on top of the float, Minnie’s in the front, and Goofy is driving the train. I remember when we saw the parade at WDW, Goofy wasn’t in the train and there was just some guy wearing all black! haha
Fixing the parade lights is probably like trying to get our Christmas lights all functioning correctly, just ten times more work. How cool that you were a fan of Baroque Hoedown before it was in the parade! I’m sure none of the original Jungle Cruise boats still exist, but hopefully, at least some of the striped canopies are still out there somewhere. Thanks for the great comment as always JB!
TokyoMagic!, no one was trying to stop me from taking pictures backstage. I’m sure they figure that today, it’s unavoidable given cell phone cameras compared to when they tried to stop you back in 1996. I don’t know if they still use the corridor behind Storybook Land, but it’s really cool that you got to see the canal boats and Casey Jr. Good job on putting the cast member in their place. :-)
Hmm, that’s interesting about Cinderella’s mice pulling the coach. I’m sure having the horses pull the pumpkin coach after dark wouldn’t be a good idea. Listening to the soundtrack of the parade, I like the Dumbo’s Circus segment the best, so it is a shame it’s gone now. Unless you’re thinking of something else, there still is a Seven Dwarfs mine float that has a few of the dwarfs riding on it. I’m so glad that you have enjoyed these posts!
The Main Street Electrical Parade was going away FOREVER, and it would never EVER return to Disneyland again. Disney never lies!!
Andrew-
Again - what wonderful images of the parade-! I couldn't agree more how this parade [and it's simple technology] seems to be timeless. It remains its BEST parade, for a multitude of reasons. And how ironic the public still can't get enough of this "simple" parade - flying in the face of Disney's unwritten philosophy of: "More is never enough".
Noticing your shot of the Kissimmee Kate Jungle Cruise boat, I wonder just how many folks realize the actual play-on-words taking place, here. I suspect most folks assume its only reference is to Kissimmee, Florida - but in reality it's referencing the 1953 MGM, 3D film - Kiss Me Kate.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful DL reports.
Andrew, I forgot that the diamond mine float had returned to the parade, a few years back. Since I didn't see a pic in your report, I guess I assumed that they omitted it again.
I found a pic online, of the mice from the Cinderella unit of the MSEP. Way back in the earlier decades of the parade, the four mice were all "male" mice. It looks like at some point, they added Suzy and Perla, which is kind of odd. I don't think the girl mice were turned into horses in the film, just the boy mice. Oh, well! Who needs accuracy? They should have Olaf pulling Cinderella's coach! ;-)
https://mousertainment.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/img_4139-cr-wm.jpg
The day I dreaded… the last of the official trip reports! But I’m glad to hear that we will at least get a few more pictures from your trip.
I remember when I first saw the Main Street Electrical Parade, I was younger than you are now; I liked Disneyland parades, but was never crazy about them. But the MSEP! Now that was a whole different story. Even today I am a sucker for anything that glows or lights up, and here was an entire parade that glowed and lit up!
And then there is that ear-catching “Baroque Hoedown”, you can’t get it out of your head.
When I saw a special event at the Hollywood Bowl for Disneyland’s 50th, the orchestra played “Baroque Hoedown” and some of the spinning bugs came out on stage, much to the delight of the crowd. I’ve always wondered how those were controlled - presumably there is a person inside, but how can they see well enough so that they don’t crash into people so nearby?
I am almost positive that the Cinderella coach had live horses, in fact it is weird to see it without them.
The “Pleasure Island” float is so odd, it might be my favorite. Although I do love Pete’s Dragon. And Alice atop her mushroom. How can I choose??
Thanks for another fun post, Andrew!
Nanook, you said it perfectly. It's timeless but still uses nostalgia as its chief appeal. And I admittedly had no idea about the movie the Jungle Cruise boat is referencing!
TokyoMagic!, I think the diamond mine is the only float I didn’t include a picture of in this post. Thanks for the picture of the mice. They are still in the parade, but they aren’t attached to the pumpkin coach, just walking a little bit in front of it.
Major, I’m glad to know that you enjoyed the reports so much. I am with you on the MSEP being in a whole different league compared to every other Disney parade. I like it more than any fireworks show too! I’m sure the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl loved the spinning bugs–I’d say they are the fan favorite. Here’s a video of someone getting into the driver’s seat of one of the bugs. It does not look like there’s a lot of visibility! But I would still love to do it. Thanks, Major.
Try this link and skip to about the 2:00 mark.
Andrew, your pictures are absolutely stunning! And it makes me happy to see that you photographed from the "Lou Perry" bench at the station. ;o) Though I get sad when I think that my dad won't ever be back to take more Disneyland parade pictures, I am so glad to see you doing so. I'm going to show these fantastic pictures to him - I know he'll love them.
My favorite is Elliott - Pete's Dragon, btw.
You may be in WDW now...I know you were going this month. I can't wait to see pictures from WDW!
Thanks for another wonderful Disneyland post, Andrew!
Sue, I forgot, that is Lou's bench! :-D I'm so happy to know that you will share these pictures with him.
And yes, I am at Walt Disney World right now, in a 2 hour line for Space Mountain! I'll be sure to post some pictures when I get back.
Post a Comment